This invention relates to a method and apparatus for collecting wire rod or the like at the outlet of a rolling mill, particularly of a continuous operating rolling mill.
For collecting wire rod or the like, various methods and apparata are known in the art. In one of the prior art systems, the wire rod coming out of the rolling mill is first directed upwards through a tubular guide, and then deflected downwards through that same guide, the termination end whereof is placed above a large collecting basket, usually of metal construction, having a diameter of about two meters.
The wire rod exiting the termination end of the tubular guide, and directed downwards, touches the bottom of the basket and, owing to the reaction acting upon it, is caused to deviate arcuately and form coils the diameter whereof is directly proportional, as a coarse approximation, to the height of the guide termination end from the basket bottom.
The guide is hinged to the end closest to the rolling mill along a horizontal axis, such that its termination end may be raised and lowered with respect to the bottom of the basket, whereby the diameter of the coils formed may be very coarsely varied. The raising and lowering are effected by a specially appointed operator, who monitors the arrangement of the coils and brings the guide, for example, first to a position farther away from the basket to form larger coils, and then moves the termination end closer to the basket in order to form smaller coils, thereby first the periphery and then the center of the basket are filled.
Also known are apparata of this type, wherein the guide is raised and lowered automatically with intermediary of a motor, as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,560.
It becomes possible, with this system, to prepare basketfuls of wire rod weighing half a ton, for aluminum, and above, for heavier metals. The basketfuls thus obtained, however, are bulky and disorderly arranged, because the filling factor is low, and are utilized only when the wire rod is to be further processed on the spot. If on the contrary, the wire rod is to be delivered to outside plants, than an additional coiling step around a reel is required, which is carried out by means of high speed coilers, accounting for increased costs and constructional complexity.
Other collecting systems, of known design, provide for the employment of a rotating curved guide located at the termination of the tubular guide, which in this particular case is stationary. The wire rod is passed to the rotating guide, and owing to the rotational movement of the latter, is deposited in concentrical coils or turns onto an underlying reel. It is known, in an apparatus of this type, to cause the curved guide to first rotate at a given speed, to deposit a given number of coils or turns, and then to rotate at a different speed, to deposit further coils, more to the inside or outside of the previous ones according to whether the new speed is higher or lower than the initial speed.
Here too, rather disorderly arranged skeins are obtained which are unsuitable for transportation and outside delivery, thereby for this purpose a subsequent winding step is still necessary, with the attendant drawbacks mentioned above.
In order to improve the filling factor of the skeins formed with the rotating guide, it has been proposed, moreover, to place the reel whereon the skeins are formed on a rotating table, the rotation axis whereof is off-centered with respect to the rotation axis of the rotating guide. In this manner, by rotating the table, an orbital arrangement of the coils or turns is obtained, thus improving the filling factor, without, however, obtaining as yet compact skeins suitable for shipment.